Goodwill forges alliances to offer free career training and resources

When Maggie Nassour lost her job two years ago, she tapped into a free community resource to get schooled.

“I didn’t have a [high school] diploma,” said Massour, who had worked as an inspection and packaging manager with the same company for 21 years. “I was 44. Not having a diploma wouldn’t look good on a resume. It was always something that I wanted to do, but this pushed the urgency.” The Clementon, New Jersey, resident went to the Helms Academy, a nonprofit education subsidiary of Goodwill Industries International in Stratford, New Jersey. She attended for three hours, three days each week. Although General Educational Development (GED) test preparation was the initial purpose, she also got a job coaching from Charles Jeffers, an adult-education coordinator for Goodwill. After passing the test, she landed a gig in January as a quality and safety manager.